2009-11-19
House Advances
Health-Care Reform Legislation: Now Is the Time to Take Action to Support
Physician Payment Fix
After months of highly contested debate, the U.S. House of
Representatives has passed the "Affordable Health Care for America Act" (HR 3962)
to overhaul the nation's health-care system by a vote of 220 to 215. As this Advocacy
Update was going to press, the House was preparing to vote on legislation (HR 3961) to correct the Medicare physician payment formula and avert
the 21 percent cut in Medicare fees scheduled for January 1, 2010. All
physicians are urged to take action and contact their representative to
support a physician payment fix. Read more.
Senate
Health Reform Bill Released; Procedural Vote Expected by Thanksgiving
Senate Democratic leaders released their
version of health reform legislation and set the stage for what is likely to be
a dramatic debate in the Senate over health-care. Read more.
Congress Passes
Second Short-Term Funding Bill for NIH
Although
federal FY 2010 began on October 1, most of the annual appropriations bills
remain unfinished. As a result, Congress was forced to pass a second continuing
resolution to continue funding the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and
other federal programs at current levels through December 18,
2009. Read more.
Urge President Obama
to Support NIH Research Funding in His FY 2011 Budget Proposal
President
Obama will decide what funding to recommend in his fiscal year (FY) 2011 budget
proposal for NIH before the end of the
year. It is critical to strengthen the scientific and economic momentum
generated by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) by making NIH's
new research capacity permanent. ASH encourages all members to visit the ASH Advocacy Center to e-mail
President Obama to thank him for his commitment to science and urge him to
continue to make research a priority in FY 2011.
NIH Revises the
Definition of Principal Investigator
NIH has released a final rule on "Grants for
Research Projects." The rule, which takes effect on December 10, amends
the current regulations governing grants for research projects by revising the
definition of principal investigator to permit more than one individual
with appropriate level of authority and responsibility to be listed in the
grant application. Read more.
NIH Office of
Extramural Research Releases November 2009 Newsletter
The NIH Office of Extramural Research
has released its November 2009 newsletter, which includes information on ARRA
reporting submission data as well as a call for proposals for the 2010 NIH
Director's Transformative Research Projects Program.
ASH Annual Meeting:
Policy & Practice Events You Will Want to Attend
This year's ASH annual meeting in New Orleans
has several events that you should plan to attend, including the ASH Grassroots
Network Breakfast featuring Melanie Bloom, national spokesperson for the
Coalition to Prevent DVT and recipient of the 2009 ASH Outstanding Service
Award, who will speak about the importance of advocacy and her experience in
increasing public awareness of deep-vein thrombosis, and the Practice Forum:
New American Health-Care Policy and the Practice of Hematology. Read more.
Four
Dates, Six Locations, One Great Program - The Only Official Highlights of
ASH®
Each
of the six upcoming 2010 Highlights of ASH meetings will provide exceptional
opportunities to hear leading hematology experts review the most clinically
relevant abstracts and present their perspectives on the latest findings,
discuss real cases with leaders in the field, and network with colleagues. Register today to attend the meeting
near you.
Meetings
Dates and Locations:
